Skip to content

NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Rescue, CA

Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.

Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated

No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Rescue, California since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 16 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
0

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
16

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
0

no recorded deaths

What the records show for Rescue

The strongest of the 16 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F2 on February 7, 1978; its path came within 23 miles. Of the 16, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 9 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 4. The most recent tornado was on November 18, 2020. Rescue has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 55% of the 705 California cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 4 times since 2005, with stones up to 1 inch (quarter size). Rescue has more hail reports within 10 miles than 55% of the 705 California cities.

Compare Rescue's storm record with another city →

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Rescue

By decade

  • 2020s2
  • 2010s6
  • 2000s1
  • 1990s2
  • 1980s3
  • 1970s2
Strongest tornadoes near Rescue, California
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Feb 7, 1978F223 mi1.9 mi0 / 0
Dec 24, 2015EF11 mi6.21 mi0 / 0
Oct 22, 2012EF124 mi4.02 mi0 / 0
Nov 23, 2010EF19 mi1.99 mi0 / 0
Apr 19, 1988F19 mi1 mi0 / 0
Mar 22, 1983F116 mi2 mi0 / 0
Nov 18, 2020EF06 mi4.39 mi0 / 0
May 18, 2020EF022 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Jan 9, 2017EF020 mi0.18 mi0 / 0
Mar 26, 2014EF019 mi4.02 mi0 / 0
Feb 25, 2011EF019 mi0.35 mi0 / 0
Apr 8, 2005F022 mi0.1 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 16, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Rescue

The Storm Prediction Center has 4 hail reports within 10 miles of Rescue since 2005. Of these, one was 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1 inch (quarter size), fell on November 15, 2015. The most recent report is from May 21, 2019.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Weather by month in Rescue

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Auburn, CA, 14 miles north of Rescue at 1,292 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 93°F and low of 63°F; December is the coolest, at 56°F and 37°F. January is the wettest at 7.0 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.0 inches; the year adds up to 36.1 inches over 48 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 63 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 20 nights a year. That 36.1 inches is more than at 193 of the 226 California stations used on this site (85%). Folsom, 9 miles west, has its own station (Sacramento 5 ESE, CA): 19.2 inches a year, 16.9 less than here, and a July average high of 94°F against 93°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Auburn, CA
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"
Jan56387.08
Feb59406.58
Mar63426.17
Apr68452.85
May77521.73
Jun86580.41
Jul93630.00
Aug92630.10
Sep87600.21
Oct77521.42
Nov64433.15
Dec56376.88
Year734936.148

Averages for 1991–2020 at Auburn, CA (1,292 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.

California weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Rescue

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 43 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Rescue: 37 floods, 2 flash floods, 2 heavy rain events and 2 thunderstorm wind reports. They killed 2 people and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $284,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 49 mph, on January 10, 2023.

  • December 1, 2012: heavy rain event 5 miles from the centre of Rescue — 1 killed.

  • January 3, 2023: flood 9 miles from the centre of Rescue — 1 killed.

  • March 21, 2018: flood 6 miles from the centre of Rescue — $100,000 damage.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.

Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings

El Dorado County, which includes Rescue, has been named in 27 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1964, 16 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 floods, 8 severe storms, 7 fires, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, on April 3, 2023. FEMA's National Risk Index gives El Dorado County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for inland flooding and lightning; Relatively Low for strong wind and heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes and hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $124.3 million a year, the 34th highest of 58 California counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $55.9 million (45%), is from inland flooding.

Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.

Cities near Rescue